This package helps developers to fill the database with real data instead of filling it manually.
Data can be presented as CSV File , JSON File or in-code.
Dependency-Injection also available to inject your logic by specifying a serializer_class or writing your custom seed method.
Installing using pip:
pip install django-seeding:
add 'django_seeding' to your INSTALLED_APPS setting:
INSTALLED_APPS = [
...
'django_seeding',
]
Let's take a look at a quick example of using CSVFileModelSeeder seeder from django-seeding to build a simple seeder to insert data in the database.
django_seeding_example/models.py:
from django.db import models
class M1(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
description = models.TextField()
django_seeding_example/seeders.py:
from django_seeding import seeders
from django_seeding.seeder_registry import SeederRegistry
from django_seeding_example.models import M1
@SeederRegistry.register
class M1Seeder(seeders.CSVFileModelSeeder):
model = M1
csv_file_path = 'django_seeding_example/seeders_data/M1Seeder.csv'
django_seeding_example/seeders_data/M1Seeder.csv:
title,description
t1,d1
t2,d2
Now you just need to run this command:
python manage.py seed
Now lets go deeper into the different Seeders types with its details:
Model..Seeder needs model class-attribute
Serializer..Seeder needs serializer_class class-attribute
CSVFile..Seeder needs csv_file_path class-attribute
JSONFile..Seeder needs json_file_path class-attribute
id: str (So Recommended)
This is what will be stored in the AppliedSeeder table to check if a seeder is already applied or not
It is recommended to set it as the seeder name
So, set it and don't change it because when the value is changed it will be considerd as a new seeder and it will be applied again even that the old seeder with the old name is applied
default value: str(type(seeder))
priority: int|float
Seeders will be sorted depending on this attribute (lower-first)
default value: float('inf')
just_debug: bool
This attribute specify if the seeder will be applied when the server is in the production-mode or not depending in the DEBUG variable in settings file
DEBUG=False & just_debug=True -> don't apply
DEBUG=False & just_debug=False -> apply
DEBUG=True & just_debug=False -> apply
DEBUG=True & just_debug=True -> apply
default value: False
@SeederRegistry.register is the decorator that register the seeder, so, if this decorator is not applied then the seeder will not be applied
Model seeders use bulk_create method, so, they are faster than Serializer seeders
Child seeders use bulk_create method with caching fetch for related objects, so, they are faster than Serializer seeders
CSV file reader is using pandas for a better performance and less bugs
Using Model seeders means the field names must match the fields you have defined in your model
Using Serializer seeders means the field names must match the fields you have defined in your serializer
you can define get_ class-methods instead of class-attributes as below:
python manage.py seed
python manage.py runserver --seed
SEEDING_ON_RUNSERVER = True
SEEDING_ON_RUNSERVER=True in your settings file You can stop seeding in a runserver by using --dont-seed argumentpython manage.py runserver --dont-seed
By default, the seed command will use the DEBUG setting from your Django project's settings.py. However, you can override this by explicitly passing the --debug option when running the command.
Force DEBUG to True:
python manage.py seed --debug=True
Force DEBUG to False:
python manage.py seed --debug=False
If no value is specified for --debug, the command will fall back to the project's current DEBUG setting.
To manage seeders from a dashboard, we provide APIs that offer full control over seeder operations.
Route django-seeding views in our seeder app urls.py:
from rest_framework import routers
from django_seeding.apis.views import AppliedSeederViewSet, RegisteredSeederViewSet
router = routers.DefaultRouter()
router.register('registered-seeders', RegisteredSeederViewSet, 'registered-seeders')
router.register('applied-seeders', AppliedSeederViewSet, 'applied-seeders')
urlpatterns = router.urls
Route our seeder app in the project urls.py:
from django.urls import include
...
urlpatterns = [
...
path('seeder/', include('django_seeding_example.urls')),
...
]
...
You can customize the permissions or any other logic by inheriting the provided viewsets and overriding the necessary methods to meet your specific project requirements.
To make it easier for you to test the APIs, we have provided a Postman collection containing all the API endpoints. You can download the collection and import it into Postman for quick and easy testing.
Steps to Use the Postman Collection:
In this package, seeder classes must be registered to be applied. This endpoint allows you to:
List all registered seeders: This includes both applied and non-applied seeders.
GET /registered-seeders/
Apply specific seeders: You can apply all seeders or select specific ones.
POST /registered-seeders/seed-all/
we can specify the debug mode for the seeding and the needed ids to be seeded in the body like this (both of them are optional - can be null):
{
"debug": true,
"ids": [
"id1",
"id2"
]
}
Applied seeders are tracked in a dedicated model to prevent them from being applied multiple times. The Applied Seeder endpoints provide full management over the applied seeder records, allowing you to:
List all applied seeders: View all seeders that have been applied.
Get /applied-seeders/
Retrieve a specific applied seeder: View details of a particular seeder.
Get /applied-seeders/{id}/
Mark a seeder as applied: Create a record in the applied seeder model to indicate it has been applied.
POST /applied-seeders/
Request body:
{
"id": "id"
}
Update a seeder record: Useful for changing a seeder's ID.
PUT /applied-seeders/{id}/
Request body:
{
"id": "new_id"
}
Delete a specific applied seeder: Removes a record to mark the seeder as not applied.
DELETE /applied-seeders/{id}/
Delete all applied seeders: This allows all seeders to be re-applied.
DELETE /applied-seeders/delete-all/
id: int (Primary Key)
created_at: datetime
updated_at: datetime
Here we will go deeper in the seeders classes and its details
Fast bulk_create seeder
notice that the titles in the csv-file have to match the field names in the model
models.py
class M1(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
description = models.TextField()
seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class M1Seeder(seeders.CSVFileModelSeeder):
id = 'M1Seeder'
priority = 1
model = M1
csv_file_path = 'django_seeding_example/seeders_data/M1Seeder.csv'
seeders_data/M1Seeder.csv
title,description
t1,d1
t2,d2
Fast bulk_create seeder
notice that the keys in the json-file must match the field names in the model
models.py
class M2(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
description = models.TextField()
seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class M2Seeder(seeders.JSONFileModelSeeder):
id = 'M2Seeder'
priority = 2
model = M2
json_file_path = 'django_seeding_example/seeders_data/M2Seeder.json'
seeders_data/M2Seeder.json
[
{
"title": "json t1",
"description": "json d1"
},
{
"title": "json t2",
"description": "json d2"
}
]
Blinky-fast bulk-create seeder implemented with caching strategy.
This seeder was conceived to seed child models, i.e. models that at least one
field is a foreign key (models.ForeignKey), but can be used instead of
JSONFileModelSeeder for general models as well.
Notice that the keys in the json-file must match the field names in the model
and also the structure. Parent models are represented as inner dicts.
models.py
class Father(models.Model):
name = models.TextField()
class Son(models.Model):
name = models.TextField()
father = models.ForeignKey(Father, on_delete=models.CASCADE)seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class SonSeeder(seeders.JSONFileChildSeeder):
id = 'SonSeeder'
model = Son
priority = 10
json_file_path = 'django_seeding_example/seeders_data/SonSeeder.json'seeders_data/SonSeeder.json
[
{
"name": "json son 1",
"father": { "name": "json father 1" }
},
{
"name": "json son 2",
"father": { "name": "json father 2" }
}
]Notice that child priority must be greater than parent priority in order to the parent model be seeded before. Not seeding parent before will raise errors! Each field that is a FK must be a dictionary with field names same as its related model.
This seeder class can handle pretty complex relations between models. Let's expand the family (pun intended):
models.py
class Mother(models.Model):
name = models.TextField()
class Daughter(models.Model):
name = models.TextField()
father = models.ForeignKey(Father, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
mother = models.ForeignKey(Mother, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
class Meta:
constraints = [
UniqueConstraint (
fields=['name', 'father', 'mother'],
name='unique_parentage'
)]
class Grandson(models.Model):
name = models.TextField()
parentage = models.ForeignKey(Daughter, on_delete=models.CASCADE)seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class DaughterSeeder(seeders.JSONFileChildSeeder):
id = 'DaughterSeeder'
priority = 10
model = Daughter
json_file_path = 'django_seeding_example/seeders_data/DaughterSeeder.json'
@SeederRegistry.register
class GrandsonSeeder(seeders.JSONFileChildSeeder):
id = 'GrandsonSeeder'
model = Grandson
json_file_path = 'django_seeding_example/seeders_data/GrandsonSeeder.json'seeders_data/DaughterSeeder.json
[
{
"name": "json daughter 1",
"father": { "name": "json father 1" },
"mother": { "name": "json mother 1" }
},
{
"name": "json daughter 2",
"father": { "name": "json father 2" },
"mother": { "name": "json mother 2" }
}
]seeders_data/GrandsonSeeder.json
[
{
"name": "json grandson 1",
"parentage": {
"name": "json daughter 1",
"father": { "name": "json father 1" },
"mother": { "name": "json mother 1" }
}
},
{
"name": "json grandson 2",
"parentage": {
"name": "json daughter 2",
"father": { "name": "json father 2" },
"mother": { "name": "json mother 2" }
}
}
]Slow one-by-one seeder
notice that the titles in the csv-file have to match the field names in the serializer
This seeder is used to inject a serializer to implement custom create logic
models.py
class M3(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
description = models.TextField()
serializers.py
class M3Serializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = M3
fields = ['title', 'description']
def create(self, validated_data):
validated_data['title'] = '__' + validated_data['title'] + '__'
validated_data['description'] = '__' + validated_data['description'] + '__'
return super().create(validated_data)
seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class M3Seeder(seeders.CSVFileSerializerSeeder):
id = 'M3Seeder'
priority = 3
serializer_class = M3Serializer
csv_file_path = 'django_seeding_example/seeders_data/M3Seeder.csv'
seeders_data/M3Seeder.csv
title,description
t1,d1
t2,d2
Slow one-by-one seeder
notice that the keys in the json-file have to match the field names in the serializer
This seeder is used to inject a serializer to implement custom create logic
models.py
class M4(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
description = models.TextField()
serializers.py
class M4Serializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = M4
fields = ['title', 'description']
def create(self, validated_data):
validated_data['title'] = '__' + validated_data['title'] + '__'
validated_data['description'] = '__' + validated_data['description'] + '__'
return super().create(validated_data)
seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class M4Seeder(seeders.JSONFileSerializerSeeder):
id = 'M4Seeder'
priority = 4
serializer_class = M4Serializer
json_file_path = 'django_seeding_example/seeders_data/M4Seeder.json'
seeders_data/M4Seeder.json
[
{
"title": "json t1",
"description": "json d1"
},
{
"title": "json t2",
"description": "json d2"
}
]
Fast bulk_create seeder
models.py
class M5(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
description = models.TextField(null=True)
seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class M5Seeder(seeders.EmptySeeder):
id = 'M5Seeder'
priority = 5
model = M5
records_count = 2
Fast bulk_create seeder
notice that the keys in the data class-attribute have to match the field names in the model
models.py
class M6(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
description = models.TextField()
seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class M6Seeder(seeders.ModelSeeder):
id = 'M6Seeder'
priority = 6
model = M6
data = [
{
"title": "in-code t1",
"description": "in-code d1"
},
{
"title": "in-code t2",
"description": "in-code d2"
},
]
Slow one-by-one seeder
notice that the keys in the data class-attribute have to match the field names in the serializer
This seeder is used to inject a serializer to implement custom create logic
models.py
class M7(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
description = models.TextField()
serializer.py
class M7Serializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = M7
fields = ['title', 'description']
def create(self, validated_data):
validated_data['title'] = '__' + validated_data['title'] + '__'
validated_data['description'] = '__' + validated_data['description'] + '__'
return super().create(validated_data)
seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class M7Seeder(seeders.SerializerSeeder):
id = 'M7Seeder'
priority = 7
serializer_class = M7Serializer
data = [
{
"title": "in-code t1",
"description": "in-code d1"
},
{
"title": "in-code t2",
"description": "in-code d2"
},
]
Here you can write your logic as you want in the seed method
models.py
class Post(models.Model):
content = models.TextField()
class Comment(models.Model):
post = models.ForeignKey(Post, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
content = models.TextField()
seeders.py
@SeederRegistry.register
class CustomSeeder(seeders.Seeder):
id = 'CustomSeeder'
priority = 8
def seed(self):
post1 = Post.objects.create(content='post1')
post2 = Post.objects.create(content='post1')
comment1 = Comment.objects.create(post=post1, content='comment1')
comment2 = Comment.objects.create(post=post1, content='comment2')
comment3 = Comment.objects.create(post=post2, content='comment3')
comment4 = Comment.objects.create(post=post2, content='comment4')
If you have suggestions for how Django Seeding could be improved, or want to report a bug, open an issue! We'd love all and any contributions.
For more, check out the Contributing Guide.
Suliman Awad - [email protected] - Linkedin
Project Link: https://github.com/suliman-99/django-seeding
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2023 Suliman Awad
For more, check out the License File.